Bill Text: NJ A4153 | 2014-2015 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Establishes resisting arrest public awareness campaign.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2015-02-05 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Law and Public Safety Committee [A4153 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2014-A4153-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman RONALD S. DANCER
District 12 (Burlington, Middlesex, Monmouth and Ocean)
SYNOPSIS
Establishes resisting arrest public awareness campaign.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act establishing a resisting arrest public awareness campaign and supplementing Title 2C of the New Jersey Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. The Legislature finds and declares that:
a. While national studies have shown that the use of force by law enforcement in police-public encounters is rare, it does occur and in many cases is the result of a suspect resisting arrest;
b. A research report jointly published by the National Institute of Justice and the Bureau of Justice Statistics entitled, "Use of Force by Police: Overview of National and Local Data," found that in a study of 882 instances of the use of force, 97 percent of suspects resisted;
c. According to the report, the two types of resistance most commonly reported in connection with a use of force by law enforcement were active resisting of arrest and assault of the officer;
d. The report concluded it can be accepted with substantial confidence that use of force typically transpires when police are trying to make an arrest and the suspect is resisting;
e. Current law in New Jersey provides that a person resists arrest by purposely preventing or attempting to prevent a law enforcement officer from effecting an arrest, and further provides that it is not a defense to prosecution that the law enforcement officer was acting unlawfully in making the arrest, if he was acting under color of his official authority and if he announced his intention to arrest prior to the resistance;
f. Resisting arrest can be a disorderly persons offense or a crime of the third or fourth degree depending on the conduct of the defendant; and
g. A public awareness campaign to provide information to the public concerning the risk of harm related to and the penalties associated with resisting arrest is in the public interest and will serve the interests of public safety in this State.
2. The Attorney General shall take appropriate steps to promote public awareness of the risk of harm related to, and the penalties associated with, resisting arrest, including:
a. providing printed educational materials and public service announcements concerning the provisions of N.J.S.2C:29-2;
b. distributing the printed educational materials required pursuant to subsection a. of this subsection to municipalities for distribution to the public, through entities, including, but not limited to, police departments, libraries, community centers, and other community-based organizations;
c. making the educational materials available on the Internet website of the Department of Law and Public Safety, and the individual websites or pages of any appropriate division thereof, including, but not limited to the website of the Division of State Police; and
d. urging county sheriffs, county prosecutors, and the chiefs of police of county and municipal police departments to make the educational materials available on their respective Internet websites or to link to a State website containing the materials.
3. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill requires the Attorney General to establish a public awareness campaign to promote public awareness of the risk of harm related to and the penalties associated with resisting arrest.
Under current law, a person resists arrest by purposely preventing or attempting to prevent a law enforcement officer from effecting an arrest. The law further provides it is not a defense to prosecution that the law enforcement officer was acting unlawfully in making the arrest if he was acting under color of his official authority and announced his intention to arrest prior to the resistance.
While national studies have shown that the use of force by law enforcement in police-public encounters is rare, it does occur and in many cases is the result of a suspect resisting arrest. A research report jointly published by the National Institute of Justice and the Bureau of Justice Statistics entitled, "Use of Force by Police: Overview of National and Local Data," found that in a study of 882 instances of the use of force, 97 percent of suspects resisted.
According to the report, the two types of resistance most commonly reported in connection with a use of force by law enforcement were active resisting of arrest and assault of the officer. The report concluded that use of force typically transpires when police are trying to make an arrest and the suspect is resisting.
A public awareness campaign to provide information to the public concerning the risk of harm related to, and the penalties associated with, resisting arrest is in the public interest and will serve the interests of public safety in this State. Accordingly, the bill requires the Attorney General to:
· provide printed educational materials and public service announcements concerning resisting arrest;
· distribute the materials to municipalities for distribution to the public, through entities, including, but not limited to, police departments, libraries, community centers, and other community-based organizations;
· make the materials available on the website of the Department of Law and Public Safety, and the individual websites or pages of any of its divisions, including, but not limited to the website of the State Police; and
· urge county sheriffs, county prosecutors, and the chiefs of police of county and municipal police departments to make the materials available on their respective websites or to link to a State website containing the materials.
